I just don’t believe haram means illegal. Haram is haram. If illegal means haram, then what does haram mean?

If you go to the hyper-markets today, products that are haram, such as liquor and pork, are labeled as non-halal. What is non-halal? Liquor and pork are haram! Now you can probably label Parkia speciosa as non-halal, because petai is arguably makrouh.

And what about cigarettes? Of course, those who smoke say it is halal and perhaps even saintly. Isn’t that a surprise? Heck, we may just as well stick the Jakim Halal logo on those cigarette boxes.

But many say that it is not quite halal. Since there are conflicting views, is it non-halal? Sensitive issue? Why? Because cigarette makers are some of the most powerful lobbyists in the world? Because even some Muslim preachers smoke? Because even some of the most influential politicians smoke? What are in those cigarettes, anyway?